Wel-come…, to the Wood-shop!
OH, Me so dusty.
For those of you not raised in the ‘80’s, well, you’ll have to look it up. For those who know, you know.
What started as a childhood dream back in the early 80’s would lead me down the winding road to today. Growing up in a small town and living a quarter mile to our nearest neighbor, I would go out to my dad’s shed and play. Being an only child, I was able to talk my dad into letting me use a corner of the shed as my play area, laboratory, bike shop, woodwork area, and an all-around everything a 7- to 14-year-old needed for entertainment! One year I made a sign out of an old piece of wood I had found. Using my trusty, rusty wood chisel, I carved out my name and added Construction Company to it. Although there were some mis spellings, I was proud of my first “business”! This, in turn, was the first step toward my dream of owning an actual business!
Around 40years has passed since that old sign was carved in a half-rotted scrap board. I used old rusty bent nails to attach it to a 2x4 then “planted” in the ground. Although that dream faded many years ago, I still carried a spark of hope deep down.
Taking that first step turning an idea into reality is tough, and scary! It’s easy to draw up plans, talk about it, and do nothing. When you finally get the nerve to start once and for all, it brings to light a stark reality. Putting all this together is tougher than I could have ever imagined!
Growing up broke, not poor (there is a difference), is difficult enough. Add in the fact that I was growing up in the 80’s and had very little parenting most of the time. That kind of freedom for a kid is pretty awesome! Since it was so far to the neighbor’s house, I would entertain myself out in the shed, playing cars and other “kids’ stuff”. When my parents were around (they worked, a lot. And yes, I was my own babysitter. Sadly, so much has changed since the 80’s), we would go do the family thing and then come home where I was off to the lab again. My parents did worry about money, and that sets deeply in a kid’s mind. Things didn’t seem as easy to attain for myself, unlike my friends who were more fortunate. As I grew older, the tougher it became for me to “get” how to better manage my finances.
Life has a way of giving you what you think about most, and I thought about where the money would come from to survive. And for the past 30 years, that is what I have been doing, surviving and not really living.
As a young adult, I was “stuck” in a job I enjoyed, but the pay sucked. Trying to survive back then was easier than today, but life was far from easy. After 3 years at that low paying job, I “drew a lottery ticket” of a job and my income tripled overnight! As the saying goes, “you spend what you earn” and I was no exception to that rule. The world is a wonderful, or cruel place depending on your thoughts about it. I was “living the dream” and then life threw a curve ball. For 15 years, I was at a job that paid very good for what I was doing, and I spent everything I earned on junk I didn’t need, women I should have left alone, and “playthings” that fall apart. After I was laid off from the “good job” I lost everything in a bankruptcy (from having to many loans and no income) and had to start over again at age 37.
Starting out again for some people is easy, I did not have that mentality. I was back in survival mode with no money, no retirement savings, and few friends that I was in touch with. Now, 16 years later, I have finally made the bold move to get a business going. I have pulled all my resources together and “took the plunge” toward what I hope is a better way of living. Taking everything you have to start a business is like placing a single roulette bet in Vegas. You know the house always wins. But wait, I’m betting on the house to win this time!
Sorry, squirrel. Now back to the woodshop!
Everyone has a dream, some people dream more vividly than others, none the less, it is still a dream for how things should turn out. I am no different. 30 years ago, I had a small woodshop. I just made basic projects and actually sold some of them. Most of my skills came from “trial and error” learning since no one really knew what an internet was. “What, no you tube”!? “Um, no”, we had no idea it would ever exist.
Learning back then was less stressful since you didn’t have someone recording your every move hoping to make you the “next internet sensation” when you screwed up. Once I figured out the best usage for my tools, I became a better craftsman and was ready for a bigger shop. I secured a loan for an impressive 33x36 pole style building with a concrete floor and plenty of space to build anything I was capable of! Unfortunately, 911 happened a month after it was built and the world stopped, and so did people wanting to buy wood stuff (luxury items). I hung on for a couple of years until juggling bills was no longer an option. With the news of where I worked closing and hours getting cut back even more, I filed for bankruptcy (although I was able to keep some assets, I still had to “start over” with my life). After losing the “big shop”, I put my tools in storage and didn’t look at them for several years (although I had big plans to open a woodshop much sooner than reality allowed for).
Things have been rocky at best since my layoff in 2008, and “the struggle is real”! Seventeen years have passed since that foul year, and I want to “get this party started”! I will be pulling up my big boy pants and building another woodshop, although not as impressive as the previous one. It should be finished in early to mid 2025 depending on finances and time to work on it.
With that short story long, we come to the main point of this epic tale. Simple Treasures, Woodshop Creations, and introducing Rusty Blades Woodshop! Yes, this is round three and, I’m hoping for “third time lucky”! For those of you wondering why Rusty Blades Woodshop, let me tell you as quickly as possible.
When you have a 17-year span between woodshops and selling, everything changes for how you need to operate a business. It’s harder for me to learn new “tricks” (old dog ya know).
Having that many years between shops, several of the tools I kept are now “rusty”, and so are my skills. With that thought, I stumbled upon Rusty Blades Woodshop as a fitting description and name for this new venture! No, I don’t have red hair, and it isn’t my real name. It’s all about a renewed start and doing it better the sec… third time around.